Why did Jesus take just Peter, John and James with him up the mountain as witnesses to the transfiguration? Why not include the rest of the twelve apostles? Why not Mary Magdalene and Salome and all of the disciples? For that matter, why not the 5000 who witnessed the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes? You would think that having more witnesses to the manifestation of divine glory would lead more people to come to faith. How about this for a theory: what if Jesus invited his three BFFs up the mountain to test out how people would react to the appearance of divine glory? If that was, in fact, the case the test did not go well. The three started off by falling asleep. Then when they were fully awake they wanted to stay on the mountaintop and not have to get back to the more mundane world below. The cloud of divine presence frightened them and the heavenly voice caused them to shut down completely into silence. Drowsiness, avoidance, fear, silence. All in all, probably not the reactions that Jesus was hoping for as a result of his transfiguration. The experiment was a flop.
The transfiguration was not what helped Peter, John and James to come to know who Jesus was. Rather, it was the kindness he showed to the people whom he met. It was the compassion he extended toward those who were hurting. It was the healing he brought to those who were sickly. It was the welcome he extended to all, saint and sinner alike. It was the sense of belonging he created as he gathered a community around him. It was the teaching he offered about finding God in the ordinary stuff of life: a seed growing, a shepherd leading sheep, dough rising, a father welcoming home a lost son. It was the example of prayer that demonstrated his closeness to the one he called Our Father. It was the love he extended to all the people in life. In the end, it was the fidelity to his mission even facing suffering and death that demonstrated his true nature. Not the extraordinary mountain top experience but the daily example of love was the concrete manifestation of the divinity of Jesus.
This is relevant not only to Peter, John and James but also says something about our own relationship with Jesus. Sometimes when we hear that we should have a personal relationship with Christ it gives us pause. This is particularly true when someone tells of a life-changing encounter with Jesus that transfigured their life. How come I haven’t had a mountaintop experience like that? How am I to understand my relationship with Jesus? Most often our encounter with Jesus does not happen by getting knocked off our horse but by eating in our house. It is in the ordinary that grace is most manifest. Which leads to this moment in this place. In the Catholic tradition we have always talked about the Holy Eucharist as being about the Real Presence, that Jesus is truly here with us in the sacrament. Since that is so, the privileged way we have to encounter Jesus is by meeting him in the Mass.
We begin our encounter Jesus at the start of Mass when we confess our need for God’s mercy. Someone who is self-satisfied, who doesn’t need anyone or anything, who never makes a mistake, who feels complacent will not encounter Jesus. We bring ourselves just as we are to Mass – wounded, hurting, lost, confused, Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Give me the grace and the strength that I need. I open myself up to receive the gift of your presence.
We encounter Jesus in the scripture, in the readings of the day. We call the Bible the Word of God but St. John’s gospel reminds us that Jesus is the Word as well. ‘In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” As we listen to the readings we are not simply hearing an old, old story. We are hearing a message meant for us. Jesus speaks to us in the scripture if we have the ears to hear. “Look up at the sky and count the stars,” we read in the Book of Genesis. Those words are addressed to us. “Our citizenship is in heaven and from it we also await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,” St. Paul wrote. “It is good that we are here,” said St. Peter in the Gospel. Heeding the message we receive in the Word of God enables us to encounter Jesus.
We encounter Jesus when the priest prays the great Eucharistic prayer recalling the saving events of Jesus life, death and resurrection. The words of Jesus at the Last Supper – “This is my Body. This is my Blood” – are recited once again to connect us with that moment in his life. We are gathered at his table just as surely as Peter, John and James were. We are invited into the compassion of Jesus as he ensures us of this ongoing presence through the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the cup. This is not a nostalgic memory of something that happened in the long ago and far away, this is a living memory that bridges time and eternity.
And, of course, we encounter Jesus directly in the reception of Holy Communion. “My flesh is real food,” Jesus told us. Just as the food we eat is what goes into making up our bones and our bodies, so by consuming the Body of Christ in the Holy Eucharist brings the real presence of Jesus into the very marrow of our being. Jesus once said, “I will be with you always.” We feel his presence with us in a concrete way when we extend our hand and say “Amen” to the pronouncement “The Body of Christ.” There’s a gospel song with the lyrics, “Open our eyes Lord/ We want to see Jesus/ To reach out and touch Him/ And say that we love Him.” We see him, touch him, hear him, love every time we come to Mass.
